One for the Tain Golf Club scrapbook (left to right) David and Sammy Vass, Sir Bob Charles and Munro Ferries (image by courtesy of Robin Wilson, click to enlarge).

Sir Bob Charles beats his age again with 71 at Tain

By ROBIN WILSON
Every left handed golfers' boyhood idol, New Zealander Sir Bob Charles, ended his two week tour of Scottish links golf courses on his "wish list" of courses to play at Tain on Wednesday where for the first time in his eight course tour that began at North Berwick on June 29 he was partnered by a fellow lefthander.

Sir Bob, now 73, and still the first and only left handed golfer to have won the Open Championship (Royal Lytham 1963), was knighted for his services to golf in 1999 in a career that saw him add the British Senior Championship to his Open title and another eighty professional worldwide tour wins.
Making his Tain visit stand out from from all his others over the past two weeks was having local scratch lefty Munro Ferries with him, and completing the four- ball Tain's first ever father and daughter club champions, David and Sammy Vass.

Tain club captain Rob Hudson welcomed Sir Bob to Tain and before teeing off he was introduced to Scottish Golf Union president, Tain resident Ian H Ross.
The two lefties won the game by 4 and 3, Charles chipping in for an eagle 3 at the 13th and a birdie three on the next hole to come home in 32 for a one over par score of 71, beating his age by two shots.

Tight at the top in Boyd Quaich

students' event at St Andrews

It’s a three-way tie for the lead with one round left to play in the Boyd Quaich Memorial students’ international golf tournament.
Will Bowman (North Carolina), Matthew Williams (Aston University) and Gordon Stevenson (University of St Andrews) lead the field at 215 (one over par) with 18 holes on the Old Course to go.
Two rounds were played on Wednesday and at halfway it was Gordon Stevenson who held a six-shot lead after he added a level par 72 on the Old Course to his blistering first round 64 on the par 71 New Course.
However, things went a little awry for Gordon in the third round as he scored 79 which brought him back to the chasing pack. The main damage was done on the ninth hole where a quadruple bogey 7 undid most of his hard work
Williams and Bowman shot 73 and 71 respectively on the New Course and that means that they will be in the final group on Thursday morning’s final round. Last year’s runner-up, Daniel Sommerville, is just 2 shots back on 217 after a fine 72 on the New. His round could have been much better as it included a lost ball on the par 5 eighth. Daniel managed to make an eagle with his second ball so no momentum was lost but it was a case of ‘what might have been’ at the end of the round.
The best rounds of the day came from Aaron O’Callaghan and Marco Cioffrese who both managed one-under 70. They now find themselves part of a six-strong chasing pack four shots adrift of the leaders.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 214 (2x71,1x72)
215 Will Bowman (North Carolina) 70 74 71, Matthew Williams (Aston) 71 71 73, Gordon Stevenson (St Andrews) 64 72 79.
217 Daniel Sommerville (Dundee) 70 75 72, Joshua Clakre (Abertay) 71 73 73.
218 Christo Harms (Pretoria) 75 70 73, Kevin Stack (University College Cork) 73 70 75.
219 Aaron O’Callaghan (Southeastern Louisiana) 77 72 70, Marco Cioffrese (St Gellen) 76 73 70, Joe Campbell (North Carolina) 76 72 71, Philipp Dirkx (Grenoble) 73 74 72, Patrick Brimmer (Loughborough) 73 73 73, Kevin Duncan (Clayton State) 67 75 77.
220 Frazer McKenna (Southeastern Louisiana) 75 73 72, John Wybar (Aberdeen) 75 72 73.
221 Darragh Cochlan (Greensboro) 73 73 75, Wilson Bowen (Stanford) 72 73 76, Gerard Kelly (University College Dublin) 73 70 78.
222 Scott Samuel (Canada) 71 75 76, John Green (University College Dublin) 72 73 77.
223 Ben Wescoe (Yale) 76 73 74.
224 Neil McBride (Clayton State, Georgia) 76 73 75, Stephen Pointon (St Andrews) 74 72 78.

England boys are top seeds for match-play

stages, Scotland (15th) in Second Flight

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
England have won the stroke play section of the European boys team championship at Golf Club de Pan near Utrecht and qualify as the top seeds for the match-play stages. England’s first challenge will be Germany whom they will face in the quarter-final line-up.
The second day of stroke play saw a great team performance from England in tough conditions. Play got off to a wet start and although it looked as though play may have to be suspended, all players made it through without any interruptions.
Max Smith was out on the course first, dropping three shots in 16 holes and finishing off with two birdies. He ended his round on 72, a solid score to start England off.
Jonathan Bell, Eddie Pepperell and Chris Lloyd, who eagled the last, all finished with level par 71s.
Jonathan Bell, England’s leading player in the stroke play, said, “I was lucky as I didn’t get a lot of the rain but it was very windy out there. I think we all played really well as a team and I’m very excited about match play tomorrow”.
Although Jonathan finished in the lead, he felt there was still room for improvement “I haven’t really played the par 5s too well but hopefully I can do better over the next few days”.
Day one of the stroke play was interrupted for nearly two hours by thunder and lightning, but England went on to hold a one stroke lead over Sweden. Max Smith, Tom Lewis and Jonathan Bell all carded one under par 70’s.
In particular Max Smith made his score in very windy conditions being in the first group out at 7.30 am. Tom Lewis had somewhat of an up and down round. His 70 included seven birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. Jonathan Bell’s 70 was set up with a magnificent three wood at the par five eighteenth and a fine chip and a putt gave Jonathan a well deserved place on the leaderboard.
To follow the progress of our England players as they contest The European Boys Championship please visit the EGU website www.englishgolfunion.org.

England scores:
143 Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City) 70 73.
141 Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath) 70 71.
142 Max Smith (Newbury Racecourse) 70 72.
144 Eddie Pepperell (Drayton Park) 73 71.
148 Adam Carson (Long Ashton) 73 75.
146 Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire) 75 71.
Championship matchplay flight
1 England +4
2 Denmark +8
3 Sweden +15
4 Belgium +21
5 Spain +24
6 Netherlands +26
7 Czech Republic +26
8 Germany +27

SECOND FLIGHT
9 FRANCE 738
10 ITALY 739
11 PORTUGAL 740
12 IRELAND 740
13 NORWAY 742
14 SWITZERLAND 743
15 SCOTLAND 747
16 FINLAND 756

THIRD FLIGHT
17 WALES 760
18 POLAND 783
19 HUNGARY 789
20 SLOVENIA 789

Scotland boys' scores over the two rounds.
146 Sandy Bolton 74 72.
147 Paul Shields 72 75.
149 David Law 74 75.
152 Chris Robb 73 79.
155 Jack McDonald 76 79.
158 Daniel Young 81 77.

Savage calms down and Forrest

takes lead after 36 holes at Largs

With overnight leader Jamie Savage (Cawder) drifting from a pacemaking 69 to a second-round 77 for six-over-par 136, Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) stepped into the 36-hole pole position with a 70 and 69 for one-under-par 139 on the second day of the USAfirstpoint Scottish Under-16 boys' open stroke-play golf championship at Largs in Ayrshire.
He leads by one and he will be rueing a double bogey 6 at the 15th even though he did birdie the 18th after that.
Hot on his tail are Nick Ward (Redbourn (69-140) and Fraser Thain (West Linton), a pair of 70s for 140.
Ward finished well today with birdies at the 16th and 17th while Fraser Thain is another who will be looking back in anger .... two double bogeys so far, the 18th in Round 1 and the short eighth in Round 2.
A total of 45 boys with scores of 11 over-par 151 and better qualfied for Thursday's final round.
SCOREBOARD
Par 140 (2x70) CSS 71 71
139 Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) 70 69.
140 Nick Ward (Redbourn) 71 69, Fraser Thain (West Linton) 70 70.
141 Will Chambers (Mid Herts) 71 70, Eamon Bradley (Mount Ellen) 71 70, Ewan Scott (St Andrews) 70 71.
143 Jamie Bower (Meltham) 71 72, Thomas Goodair (Woodsome Hall) 70 73.
145 Nicholas Smits (Australia) 70 75.
146 Daniel McConnachie (Dumfries & Co) 73 73, Liam Johnston (Dumfries & Co) 76 70, Jamie Savage (Cawder) 69 77, Ewen Donaldson (Craigielaw) 70 76, Ben Franklin (Rochford Hundred) 73 73, Harry Whittle (Woburn) 73 73.]147 Tom Harris (Castletown) 75 72, Tom Bacon (Mellor & Townscliffe) 74 73, Joshua Jamieson (St Andrews New) 72 75, Scott Wearing (Bishopbriggs) 74 73.
148 Blair Todd (Greenburn) 77 71, Thomas Rowland (Prudhoe) 76 72, Lawrence Allan (Alva) 73 75, Craig Ross (Kirkhill) 73 75, Danny Hawksworth (Hollins Hall) 76 72.
149 Bertrand Mommaerts (Belgium) 76 73, Michael Younie (Frilford Heath) 77 72, Alasdair McDougall (Elderslie) 77 72, Shaun Connor (Ralston) 76 73, Tangi Merckx (Belgium) 76 73, Lee Morgan (Newbattle) 76 73, Gary Daoust (Belgium) 75 74, Gary Chalmers (Dollar) 78 71, Tanapol Vattanapisit (Thailand) 76 73.
150 Jordan Milne (Elgin) 76 74, Andrew Whyte (St Andrews New) 75 75, Tom Heggarty (Royal Liverpool) 72 78, Greig Stewart (Crieff) 75 75, Neil Beattie (St Andrews) 75 75, Luca Olivotto (Belgium) 74 76.
151 Craig Howie (Peebles) 78 73, Connor Campbell Inchmarlo) 75 76, Sam MacNeil (Aboyne) 76 75, Freddie Brown (Nairn Dunbar) 77 74, Moritz Hausweiler (Germany) 7675, Ross Gillan (Torrance House) 73 78
MISSED THE CUT
Selected scores
152 Robert Burlison (Oxley Park) 80 72, John Scott (East Renfrewshire) 79 73, Iain Watson (St Andrews) 76 76, Anthony Blaney (Liberton) 74 78, Allan Easton (Strathmore) 75 77, Patrick Horsting (Royal St George's) 75 77.
153 Grant Bowman (Monifieth) 77 76, Ross Proctor (Forres) 78 75, Ryan Cardwell (Long Sutton) 74 79.
154 Ross Munro (Monifieth) 76 78, Cameron Mitchell (Leven Th) 79 75, William Aldred (Mid Hewtrs) 78 76, Robbie Gauld (Cruden Bay) 77 77.
155 Calum Stewart (Brora) 75 80, Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon) 77 78,
Gregor Mackintosh (Girvan) 78 77, Phillippe Schweizer (Switzerland) 80 75, Daniel Hendry (UAE) 76 79, Greg Dunsmore (Saline) 73 82, Conner Cook (Caird Park) 79 76.

From Gary McFarlane
PGA Professional
Clober Golf Club

Just a little note to say how much I am enjoying the website as usual, been some good little debates started lately because of it.
We had some interesting results at yesterday's medal which I thought would start up some good chat on your site. We had a three-handicapper by the name of Neil Hansen score a 59 scratch, seven under par, an unbelievable score (Clober is a par 66 but with eight tough par 3s).
He had 9 birdies and two bogeys for it and it beat the old record by shot shot but equals the professional record set by PGA pro Euan Cameron in the pro am a few years ago.
Thought it would interesting to see if other courses have such low records.

Gary McFarlane

QUICK RESPONSE FROM IAIN TAYLOR:

In response to Gary's query ... at Stonehaven Golf Club which has the same par as Clober, we've had six-under-par 60 scored three times, twice by same guy whos had quite a few chances to break 60!

AND MORE FROM A STONEHAVEN READER

For your information (see Iain Taylor's note), the gentleman in question is Neil Irvine who, on June 8 this year, shot a tremendous 59. Unfortunately for Neil this was not in an individual stroke play event but in medal match play, but still worthy of some recognition.
As far as his two others are concerned they where shot in Stableford events which has created much debate within the club. I understand that after guidance from the R & A they will not stand. Euan Kennedy shot 60 and took the course record from Bobby Forbes (who scored a 61 in the third round of the club championship some years ago) and Frank McCarron. Euan's score was also in the club championship a couple of years ago. Great round.
Interesting to note that a past captain offered Paul Lawrie the chance to break 60. Paul accepted the challenge and asked for a morning practice round, some lunch, and then.....go for it! Unfortunately Stonehaven's timing was poor as Paul, within a few weeks, went on to win the Open, and due to his obviously increased commitments could not fulfill this earlier obligation.
No doubt there are some pro's out there who might fancy the Stonehaven Challenge.
Are they up for it?

Colin@scottishgolfview.com is the E-mail address for you to send in news, views and images for display on Scottishgolfview.com

Saltman siblings enter Homcoming

Putting Challenge

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY VISITSCOTLAND

The Saltman brothers, Scotland’s first family of the fairways, were at Turnberry earlier this week to be the first to tee up for Homecoming Day at The Open Championship, which will be held next week.

The professional golfing siblings: Lloyd, Elliot and Zack, all from East Lothian, played a family friendly over the Homecoming putting green and were the first scores entered into the Homecoming Putting Challenge.
The family competition, open to budding golfers of all ages, will take place as part of Homecoming Day at The Open on Wednesday July 15th. Homecoming Day is a family day to celebrate Scotland’s year of Homecoming, the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns and The Open Championship returning to Scottish soil, and will also include a rare and unique opportunity for golf enthusiasts to have their picture taken with the coveted Claret Jug.
Middle brother, Lloyd Saltman, 23, is especially familiar with The Open Championship after he finished 15th at St Andrews in 2005 and won the silver medal for best amateur.
He said: “Homecoming Day is all about families coming together to celebrate two of Scotland’s finest exports, Robert Burns and golf. Growing up in a family of golfers there’s always a lot of friendly rivalry and the Homecoming Putting Challenge is a great way to compete with family and friends and show your skills at a truly iconic venue. You might even find yourself putting alongside some of the world’s best golfers, past and present.”
The Open Championship is one of the world’s biggest golf tournaments and this year the line up is as strong as ever. Tiger Woods, Angel Cabrera and Padraig Harrington will all be competing against Scotland’s own golfing greats including Sandy Lyle, Colin Montgomerie and the 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie.
Eldest brother, Elliot Saltman, 26, the first of the siblings to step into the limelight as a professional said: “Competitions like the Homecoming Putting Challenge are fantastic because they let golf enthusiasts and novices, young and old, all play together in an atmosphere which will be really buzzing on July 15th. The Open Championship is such an incredible tournament, both to watch and to compete in, and Homecoming Day will be a unique opportunity to see some real legends of golf up close and in action.”
Youngest brother Zack, 20, who turned professional in January this year, continued: “Competing against my brothers is always interesting and earlier this year we competed together at the Villaitana Open in Spain. The Homecoming Putting Challenge is a bit more relaxed though and a great opportunity for families and friends to get into the spirit of the Open before the competition really gets going.”
Activities start from 9am on Homecoming Day with other activities including a chance to win a fantastic Homecoming golf break to Scotland, have your photo taken with the Claret Jug, and watch some classic Open Championship moments from Scotland on the big screens within the tented village.
Marie Christie, Project Director for Homecoming Scotland, said: “People all over the world have a passion for golf, a passion for Scotland and a passion for Robert Burns so The Open returning to Turnberry in Ayrshire, the birth place of Burns, brings all three elements together for Scotland’s year of Homecoming. Homecoming Scotland is a year long celebration of more than 300 events which celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns and The Open is yet another great reason to come to Scotland, enjoy the golf and explore the area which inspired some of the most famous poetry in the world.”
Tickets for Homecoming Day at The Open cost just £30 per adult and children under 16 years old go free when accompanied by an adult.
Tickets are available to purchase now from http://www.opengolf.com/. For more information on The Open Championship and other golfing events taking place in Homecoming Year, visit www.homecomingscotland2009.com/golf

Countdown to Walker Cup team selection

Two Scots within top 10 GB&I players

in new R&A World Amateur Rankings

If the selectors of the GB&I team for September's Walker Cup match at Merion Golf Club were to pick their line-up of 10 for the United States this week and rely solely on the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings then there would be two Scots in it - Murrayshall's Gavin Dear, who is ranked No 16, and Ross Kellett (Colvile Park) who has leaped 25 places up the rankings this week to No 80 and is the 10th player from Scotland, England, Ireland or Wales in the WAGR.

Here are the top GB&I players in the world rankings:

6 Sam Hutsby (England) 1143.84

16 Gavin Dear (Scotland) 1051.28.

17 Luke Goddard (England) 1042.50.

19 Chris Paisley (England) 1026.67.

27 Niall Kearney (Ireland) 970.21.

29 Matt Haines (England) 965.

42 Sam Ward (Ireland) 942.00.

43 Tommy Fleetwood (England) 939.29.

45 Stiggy Hodgson (England) 932.00.

80 Ross Kellett (Scotland) 881.25

Just outside the top 10 GB&I plyers are:

84 Matthew Nixon (England) 875.00.

86 Wallace Booth (Scotland) 873.75.

91 Tom Sherreard (England) 867.31.

97 Todd Adcock (England) 858.00.

101 Dale Whitnell (England) 852.50.

106 Paul Cutler (Ireland) 845.45.

+James Byrne from Banchory is the fourth best Scottish player in the latest R&A WAGR at No 166 with a 791.94 rating.

Scots trio off to play in Chiberta Grand Prix

Three Scots are in southwest France, Biarritz, to be precise for this week's Chiberta Grand Prix - Mark Bookless (Sandyhills), Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) and Kris Nicol (Fraserburgh).
The Grand Prix has been won by a Scot in the past - Duncan Stewart from Grantown on Spey, for one.
Editor's note:
Scottishgolfview.com will attempt to bring you the scores each evening but it is one of the most difficult Continental events from which to get information. The fact that it is being held in France is the biggest obstacle. The French Federation is most unhelpful unless you send E-mails in French and not even very helpful when you get someone like fluent French speaker Susan Simpson of the Ladies Golf Union to send a message on your behalf!
We shall do our best.

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Billy Hemstock (Teignmouth, Devon) is one of three England A squad players selected to represent the English Golf Union (EGU) in the annual Chiberta Grand Prix in Biarritz, France, from July 9 to 12.
It will be the Devon champion’s second successive visit to the Chiberta event and he will be accompanied by Adam Keogh (Boston West, Lincolnshire) and Ben Martin (Worthing, Sussex).
A year ago, Hemstock finished a creditable sixth in the individual ranking in Biarritz, a performance that underlined his potential during 2008 in which he finished runner-up in the Duncan Putter and Irish Open Amateur and fourth in the Tillman Trophy.
A member of the England A squad for the second successive season, this year the 25 year old won his county title at East Devon, reached the last 16 of the Spanish Amateur and was tied seventh in the Berkshire Trophy.
Keogh, 21, was a semi-finalist in last year’s English Amateur Championship at Woodhall Spa, claiming the scalps of internationals Charlie Ford and Luke Goddard on the way.
Martin, 18, spent most of his formative year in the Caribbean where his family lived. There he gained considerable success, winning the Trinidad & Tobago Amateur Championship this year and matching his previous successes in 2006 & 2008, while he tied for the title in 2007.
He also won the Caribbean Junior Championship in 2007 in Antigua. Last year in Britain, Martin won the Sussex Open and the Worthing match play Championship and finished third in the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters and the Sussex Colts Championship.
This year, he represented the EGU in the Peruvian Amateur in Lima.

Paul Shields (72) top scores for Scots

at European boys' team championship

Scotland were lying joint 11th in a field of 20 countries at the end of the first qualifying round before the match-play stages of the European boys' team championship at De Pan in the Netherlands.
England led with 356, a shot ahead of Sweden with Spain (362) in third place.
Scotland had a first-day total of 369 with a 72 from Paul Shields, a 73 from Chris Robb, 74s from Sandy Bolton and David Law, a 76 from Jack McDonald and a non-counting 81 from Daniel Young.
SCOREBOARD
356 ENGLAND (Jonathan Bell 70, Tom Lewis 70, Max Smith 70, Eddie Pepperwell 73, Adam Carson 73. NC: Chris Lloyd 75).
357 SWEDEN.
362 SPAIN.
363 CZECH REPUBLIC.
366 BELGIUM, GERMANY.
367 FRANCE, DENMARK.
368 IRELAND (Michael Durcan 70, Paul Dunne 70, Dermot McElroy 74, Reeve Whitson 76, Garth McGee 78, Chris Selfridge 78 (NC: one of the 78s), NORWAY.
369 PORTUGAL, NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND, SCOTLAND (Paul Shields 72, Chris Robb 73, Sandy Bolton 74, David Law 74, Jack McDonald 76. NC: Daniel Young 81).
371 ITALY.
375 WALES (Rhys Pugh 73, Rhodri Harston 74, Matthew Moseley 75, Mark Parry 76, Christopher Nugent 77. NC Luke Jackson 79).
377 FINLAND.
386 SLOVENIA.
389 POLAND.
388 HUMGARY.

Jamie Savage leads Under-16s at Largs

Jamie Savage, a 14-year-old Cawder Golf Club junior member, set the first-round pace in the Scottish Under-16 boys' championship at Largs with a one-under-par 69 in windy conditions.
Savage made his score with three birdies in the first seven holes and he reached the turn in 32. A bogey at the 10th did not upset his momentum and he leads by one shot from six players.
The leading 40 and ties after today's second round will qualify for the closing stages.
LEADERBOARD
Par 70. SSS 71. CSS 71
69 Jamie Savage (Cawder).
70 Thomas Goodair (Woodsome Hall), Fraser Thain (West linton), Ewen Donaldson (Craigielaw), Ewan Scott (St Andrews), Grant Forrest (Craigielaw), Nichols Smits (Australia).
71 Jazmie Bower (Meltham), Will Chambers (Mid Herts), Nick Ward (Redbourn).
72 Tom Heggart (Royal Liverpool), Joshua Jamieson (St Andrews New).
73 Laurence Allan (Alva0, Greg Dunsmore (Saline), Craig Ross (Kirkhill, Ross Gillan (Torrance House), Ben Franklin (Rochford Hundred), Harry Wittle (Woburn), Daniel McConnachie (Dumfries & Co).

Stephen Gallacher seeking medical

exemption to keep Euro Tour card

FROM THE GLASGOW EVENING TIMES WEBSITE

By MATTHEW LINDSAY
Stephen Gallacher, the Bathgate golfer who has been struck down by a rare debilitating disease this season, has spoken to European Tour officials about receiving a medical exemption.
Gallacher, a former Dunhill Links Championship winner, has struggled badly in recent months after contracting sarcoidosis at the Dubai Desert Classic in February.
The 34-year-old has missed the halfway cut in his last seven tournaments and is lying a lowly 187th in the Race to Dubai standings with earnings of under £50,000.
Only the leading 115 or 116 players successfully retain their card at the end of a season and the Scot is in serious danger of losing his playing privileges.

However, Gallacher, pictured above, who is at Loch Lomond to compete in the Barclays Scottish Open this week, this week met David Garland, European Tour director of operations, to discuss his situation.
If officials are sympathetic to his plight they could decide to hand him automatic entry to a number of events once he makes a full recovery.
"I spoke to David about a medical exemption while I have been here at Loch Lomond," confirmed Gallacher.
"I mentioned to him a couple of weeks ago that I had been poorly. Unfortunately, I am struggling a bit healthwise just now. I have sarcoidosis, a disease which affects my immune system. It has attacked my lymph glands, lungs and joints.
"It came on in Dubai back in February. I started the season well and finished 20th and 16th in my first two tournaments. Then I woke up one morning and couldn't move my hand.
"After that I started coughing.
I just thought I had a cold. But it went on for two or three months. It was pretty worrying while I was getting tested for it. I have seen my doctor and a consultant at Bupa Murrayfield, John Wilson, who has been great. I get regular three -week X-rays just to see how I am."
He added: "I get tired easily.
I have no energy at all just now. I am sleeping a lot. I am absolutely knackered. I have been told that nothing can help it because it is a viral infection. My body just needs total rest. It is fighting against itself just now.
"I am on steroids for it. Until I finish taking them I am not going to be anywhere near full fitness. I have got a couple of decisions to make. Rest and risk losing my card or play on and risk not recovering."
Still, Gallacher, who finished sixth last year at Loch Lomond after a seven-under-par final-round 64, is hopeful he can make an impression this week on a course he used to be attached to and knows well.
He added: "I have been told by one of the tour doctors to take it easy, not play practice rounds or hit too many balls. I haven't played any practice rounds for three weeks.
"It isn't a problem this week because I know the course so well. I am hoping to have a good week. Then I can take stock and see if I can go on or not. If I did well I probably wouldn't play for a couple of months.
"If I have a good finish this week then it will allow me to take a few weeks off to rest, finish taking my course of steroids and build my strength back up. It is one of these diseases that just goes away when it goes away.
"If I played well enough to get into the Open I would just turn up at Turnberry on the Thursday. I wouldn't be able to play any practice rounds.
I would love to play. I played it last winter and thought it was one of the best Open venues I had ever played.

+Published by kind permission of The Herald Sports Editor.

Local Final Qualifying ends at three Ayrshire venues

'Mum's over the moon!' - Lloyd and

Elliot Saltman get through to Open

Lloyd and Elliot Saltman on Tuesday became the first pair of brothers to qualify for the Open since Spanish legend Severiano Ballesteros and his sibling Manuel did so in 1983.
The Scottish brothers were two of 12 golfers to qualify for the third of this season’s majors which gets underway on Thursday week at Turnberry.
However, two notable players who failed to book their tickets were Spain’s two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal - whose best placings at the Open was third in 1992 and tied for third in 2005 - and France’s former runner-up (Carnoustie 1999) Jean van de Velde.
The most impressive performance was put up by veteran Austrian Markus Brier who shot 16-under par for the two rounds to secure his place in what will be his sixth Open appearance.
It was the Saltman brothers, though, who produced the headline grabbing story as 27-year-old Elliott won his first ever place to challenge for the ‘Claret Jug’ while for 23-year-old Lloyd it will be his first return to the Open since winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at St Andrews in 2005.
What made it even more of a family affair was that another brother Zack was caddying for Elliott.
“It’s a dream come true to be in The Open, especially along with my brother, Lloyd,” said Elliot
“Mum’s over the moon. She was on the phone to him while he was here watching me on the 18th.”
South Africa’s Thomas Aiken also booked his place - for his third appearance - posting a four-under-par 67 on Tuesday to lead by two strokes on six under-par.
“I again played very solid, trying to limit the bogeys,” said the 25-year-old who will celebrate his 26th birthday on July 16, the first day of the tournament.
“I stuck to the same game-plan as in the first round and it paid off.”
Among others to qualify were veteran English Ryder Cup competitor, Peter Baker, Ireland’s David Higgins and Australian Daniel Gaunt.
But Banchory's James Byrne's run of fantastic success over recent weeks came to an end. After a good first round, James faded out of contention.

Open Championship Local Final Qualifying Scoreboard

GLASGOW GAILES
Par 142 (2x71)
(x) denotes amateur
136 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 67
138 Peter Baker 69 69
139 David Higgins 70 69, Elliot Saltman 67 72
Did not qualify
140 Scott Dunlap (USA) 71 69, Euan Little 69 71, Chris Gaunt (Aus) 69 71, Darryn Lloyd (Rsa) 72 68
141 Craig Matheson 71 70, Craig Corrigan 69 72, Nicholas Redfern (Hkg) 69 72, Luis Claverie (Spa) 71 70, Chris Geraghty 70 71
142 Paul Maddy 69 73, Scott Barr (Aus) 70 72, Ross Bain 71 71
143 John Mellor 70 73, Stuart Archibald 72 71, David Mills 72 71, Mark Davies 70 73, (x) Ross Kellett 74 69
144 Tim Dykes 71 73, Matthew King 72 72, (x) James Atkinson 73 71, (x) Sam Hutsby 75 69, Sebastian Garcia-Grout (Spa) 75 69, Andrew Marshall 73 71, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 71 73, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 74 70, Ian Keenan 72 72, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 73 71, Will Barnes 74 70
145 James Gill (Nzl) 69 76, (x) Jamie Abbott 70 75, John Parry 72 73, (x) Jarred McKnight 72 73, Nick Soto 73 72
146 Craig Lee 71 75, Phil Worthington 76 70, Oliver Whiteley 71 75, Martin Sell 77 69
148 David Kirkpatrick 75 73, Joey Carlisle 73 75, Paul Dwyer 75 73, Scott Jackson 71 77, (x) Pat Murray 75 73, Martin Edge 74 74, David Griffiths 76 72
149 Andrew Barnett 77 72, (x) Ben Westgate 74 75, Ronan Rafferty 72 77, Andrew Johnston 75 74, Barry Taylor 74 75
150 Carl Duke 75 75, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 77 73, Brendan McDermott 72 78, Daniel Casey 75 75, Ben Banks 76 74, Brett Taylor 76 74
151 (x) Graham Povey 77 74, Grant Hamerton 80 71, John Green 78 73, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 76 75, (x) James Hamilton (Nzl) 79 72, (x) Michael Stewart 75 76, John Gallagher 77 74
152 Kenny Hutton 74 78, Mark Stewart 76 76, (x) Mark Rogers 74 78, (x) Richard Prophet 77 75, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 81, (x) Matt Haines 73 79, (x) Ross Spurgeon 74 78
153 Warren Bladon 72 81
154 (x) James Fox 79 75
155 (x) Ben Stow 79 76, Kieron Gaskell 77 78, Jonathan Lomas 77 78
156 Joe Smith 81 75, Matt Allen 79 77, David Boyce 75 81
157 Simon Stevenson 77 80
158 Scott Marshall 75 83, Jerry Scullion 79 79
159 Kenny Banks 72 87, Christopher Evans 80 79, (x) Neil Hargreaves 78 81
160 Shaun Webster 79 81
163 Sean Owen 83 80, (x) Michael Downes 79 84, Peter Appleyard 83 80
174 (x) Craig Isabel 94 80
NR: Garry Houston, Thomas Crozer, David James
DQ: Chris Doak

KILMARNOCK BARASSIE
Par 146 (2x73)
130 Markus Brier (Aut) 64 66
136 Lloyd Saltman 66 70, Daniel Gaunt (Aus) 69 67, Peter Ellebye (Den) 68 68
Did not qualify
138 Ricky Lee 69 69, Ian Walley 67 71, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 67 71, James Busby 70 68
139 (x) Matthew Nixon 70 69, Kenneth Ferrie 71 68, (x) Gavin Dear 68 71, Gordon J Brand 70 69
140 Chris Kelly 73 67, Paul Wesselingh 71 69, Jon Bevan 70 70, (x) Jonathan Watt 71 69
141 Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 71 70, Steve Lewton 71 70, Gary Wolstenholme 70 71, (x) Chris Paisley 70 71
142 (x) Keir McNicoll 69 73, Richard Golding 70 72, Jamie Elson 69 73, (x) Luke Goddard 70 72
143 Simon Lilly 72 71, Llewellyn Matthews 71 72, George Cowan 71 72, Jamie Moul 74 69, Gareth Davies 72 71, Mark Kerr 71 72, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 73, James Wilkinson 72 71, Steven Taylor 75 68
144 (x) Tommy King 70 74, Graeme Bell 72 72, (x) Steven Brown 73 71, Jonathan Caldwell 70 74, Andrea Basciu (Ita) 71 73, Daniel Greenwood 70 74, (x) James Wilson 70 74, Jesper Thuen (Den) 73 71, Barry Lane 72 72
145 James Mason 71 74, Raymond Russell 71 74, Ashley Lucas 73 72, (x) Alex Christie 75 70, Adam Hodkinson 74 71, (x) Duncan Harris 72 73, Ryan Fenwick 72 73, Jamie Howarth 77 68
146 Kieran Staunton 76 70, (x) Farren Keenan 74 72, (x) Scott Pinckney (USA) 72 74, Neil Lythgoe 76 70
147 (x) Daniel Byrne 74 73, (x) Michael Daily 74 73, Barry Hume 72 75, Ian Ridgway 79 68
148 (x) Xavier Feyaerts (Bel) 73 75, (x) James Robinson 75 73, Steve McAnally 76 72
149 StevenParry 74 75, Justin Evans 73 76, Jason Levermore 76 73, (x) Curtis Griffiths 72 77
150 Marcus Armitage 73 77, Craig Ronald 72 78, David Rawluk 77 73, (x) Mark Chamberlain 75 75, (x) Michael Saunders 75 75, Paul Jones 79 71, Matthew Evans 75 75
151 Scott Emery 78 73, (x) Simon Ward 74 77, Duncan Muscroft 76 75, David Shacklady 74 77
152 Jack Wallace 78 74, James Hepworth 81 71, (x) Jonathan Gidney 76 76, (x) Josh Evans 75 77
153 (x) Jake Amos 76 77
154 Craig Smith 80 74, (x) John Chamberlain 75 79, James Jankowski 74 80
155 Jonnie Cliff 78 77, Adam Norman 77 78, Mike Bradley 80 75, Neil Rowlands 76 79, (x) Jack Senior 81 74
156 Alan Tyson 76 80
160 Jon Wetton 78 82
Scratched: Anthony Snobeck (Fra), Lloyd Campbell, (x) Andrew Hogan
DQ: Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe)
NR: Alex Fuell
WESTERN GAILES
Par 142 (2x71)
137 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 67
138 Steve Surry 72 66
140 Thomas Haylock 73 67, Daniel Wardrop 72 68
Did not qualify
141 Matthew Baldwin 71 70, Iain Steel 71 70, Reinier Saxton (Ned) 71 70, Zane Scotland 70 71
142 Thomas Whitehouse 71 71, (x) Dale Whitnell 70 72, (x) James Byrne 68 74, Peter O'Keefe 70 72
143 Rob Harris 70 73, (x) Tom Hayes 73 70, (x) Amir Habibi 71 72, Andrew Oldcorn 73 70, Greig Hutcheon 72 71, Craig Shave 71 72
144 Daniel Perrett 70 74, Lee Jackson 73 71, Nick Ludwell 74 70, Jason Dransfield 70 74, Johan Axgren (Swe) 72 72
145 Duncan McCarthy 70 75, Michael Curtain (Aus) 71 74, Martyn Thompson 70 75, Raul Quiros (Spa) 71 74, Simon Edwards 74 71, Lee Clarke 73 72, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 72
146 Scott Henry 79 67, Carlos Balmaseda (Spa) 69 77, (x) Jonathan Bale 72 74, David Carter 77 69, Jeremy Robinson 76 70
148 Chris Gill 73 75, Ian Ashenden 72 76, David Stanton 75 73, Scott Henderson 73 75
149 Alexander Wrigley 72 77, James Harper 74 75, (x) Sam Matton 73 76, (x) Sean Einhaus (Ger) 76 73, (x) Todd Adcock 74 75, Matthew Griffiths 74 75, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 73 76
150 Steve Richardson 71 79, (x) Myles Cunningham 74 76, Kevin Harper 73 77
151 Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 74 77, (x) Tom Sherreard 79 72, James Heath 74 77, (x) Brendan Smith (Aus) 76 75, Luke Eggleston 75 76, Robin Carroll 75 76, Mark Loftus 70 81
152 (x) Andrew Gunson 77 75, Guy Woodman 76 76, (x) Scott Fallon 73 79, Paul Bradshaw 78 74, Craig Bell 79 73, (x) Garrick Porteous 75 77, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 73 79, (x) Patrick Spraggs 79 73
153 Richard Neil-Jones 77 76, Daniel Sugrue 77 76, Benjamin Howlett 77 76, (x) Andy Sullivan 75 78, (x) Adrian Ford 74 79, James Westwood 79 74
154 (x) Peter Latimer 79 75, Ben Scott 79 75
155 Mark Smith 75 80, Steven Tiley 74 81, Davin Knudsen (Aus) 75 80, Jason Patridge 82 73
156 Wilhelm Schauman (Swe) 77 79, Daniel Wood 77 79, (x) Alex Hogben 79 77, Alan Martin 83 73
157 Lloyd Davies 76 81
159 (x) Richard Hooper 73 86, (x) Kevin Garwood 78 81
160 Francisco Lagarto (Spa) 76 84, Emerson Hall 82 78, Richard Summerscales 84 76, Nicolas Morris 76 84
161 Chris Roake 79 82
163 Greg Tucker 83 80
164 Alec Smith 79 85
165 Christopher Gill 84 81, James Smith 81 84
171 Iwan Griffiths 86 85
Scratched: Marcus Maith, Peter Whiteford, Daniel Brooks

Eye problem KOs Robert Karlsson

from Open championship

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Last year's European No 1 Robert Karlsson will miss next week's Open Championship because of his left eye problem.
The 39-year-old Ryder Cup star, joint seventh at Royal Birkdale last summer, has not played since the European Open at the end of May. The injury has been affecting his balance as well as his vision. It was originally thought to be an inner ear infection, but then Karlsson was discovered to have fluid behind his retina.
He has been told it could take four to six months to clear up, but having started to suffer early this year the Swede had been hopeful he might recover in time for The Open at Turnberry. "Apparently it's quite common for men between the ages of 25 and 50 with stressful jobs," said Karlsson..
He added: "There's never a good time for these things to happen, but I'm just looking forward to getting through it and getting back to playing.
"When that is, though, I just don't know. I'm taking it week by week.
"If I had a normal job it would not be a problem - I'd just take things a bit easy.
"I don't feel bad at all, which is a bit annoying and frustrating, and my doctor has said that if I have to play I could, but if I did it would most likely take longer to get through this.
"So for the moment I'm taking a couple of eye drops and some vitamins.
"Light and dark shades of green started to float together if I can put it that way and in the PGA at Wentworth it was bad - everything started to look flat. My depth vision had gone and where I noticed it most was with chip shots and bunker shots. When the ball was up in the air I just couldn't judge how far it was going.
Also out of The Open is New Zealander Tim Wilkinson, who came through the American qualifier but has since needed thumb surgery. No replacements have been called up at this stage since the field is set to be 156-strong even without them.